


A Week

by pencilguin



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Fluff, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:15:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26144731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pencilguin/pseuds/pencilguin
Summary: Hugh and Paul are spending some time together during their long-distance relationship, trying to enjoy sharing a few days in each other's company, but Paul's mind is preoccupied.
Relationships: Hugh Culber/Paul Stamets
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	A Week

**Author's Note:**

> This was a product of July's Camp NaNoWriMo. It's not beta'd so I apologize for any mistakes.

Still giggling, Paul pulls the covers up over them both and settles down lying on his side, facing Hugh. The most brilliant smile lights up Hugh’s face as he meets his eyes. For a while they just gaze at each other with blissful adoration and flushed cheeks.

“It’s so good to see you again. Finally.” Hugh lifts his hand to cup Paul’s cheek. “Getting to touch you. To hold you, kiss you.” He follows the words with a demonstration, pressing his lips to Paul’s with a chaste softness that certainly contrasts the ones they shared until a few minutes ago. “And this time we’ve got a whole week almost completely to ourselves. I’m so happy.”

“Yes, me too.” Paul’s hand finds Hugh’s on his cheek; he entwines their fingers and pulls them to his mouth to kiss Hugh’s knuckles, then lays them down on the pillow between them. There’s something almost a little wistful in his face, Hugh thinks, although he couldn’t say where it might be coming from. “I still have to remind myself that this is real.”

“It is, trust me,” Hugh says with the brightest smile.

Paul returns it. “I do.”

Wordlessly Hugh beams at him. They share a moment of comfortable silence until he says, “So what do we do now? It’s not even dark outside yet. Do we just stay in here for round two?” With a grin he adds, “And maybe three and four?” Paul chuckles. “Or do you wanna get dressed again and go out, see some sights together, maybe eat dinner somewhere?”

Paul considers it. The hint of wistfulness seems to be back.

“Or I guess we could just snuggle up in here and sleep,” Hugh finally suggests. “It _has_ been a long trip for both of us.”

“Actually,” Paul mutters, sounding as if he has to stifle a yawn prompted by the suggestion, “sleep doesn’t sound like such a bad idea right now.”

“Perfect.”

“No, you.”

It’s Hugh’s turn to chuckle. “If you say so. Come here.”

Paul scoots into his arms, his head coming to rest somewhere on Hugh’s biceps and shoulder with a content hum.

Snuggled up like this Hugh could happily drift off to sleep despite the fact that it’s still closer to late afternoon than evening, but after a while he starts to notice that, rather than sleeping like he himself had suggested, something’s troubling Paul.

He peels one eye open. “What’s wrong, love?”

Paul shakes his head. “It’s just…” He sighs before he continues. “We’ve barely started this time together and I’m already sick of it. That it’s so short. That whenever we finally get a chance to spend just a few days together we feel like we have to make up for all those months of being apart. And don’t get me wrong — it’s _intense_ , very intense, and it’s still amazing. But it’s also exhausting, and it makes every time we meet feel like a marathon.”

“I think I get what you mean,” Hugh slowly responds. “And I agree. I often think about simply spending some quiet time together. Like we sometimes do over comms, only in person. Eating breakfast together without talking. Curling up on the couch together and I read while you work, or vice versa. Doing our bedtime routines and falling asleep together, without sex because we don’t feel like we have to make the most of tonight since we’ve got so few opportunities to be together.”

“Yes, exactly.” Paul sighs again. “Sorry… I didn’t want to ruin the mood now that we’re finally here.”

Hugh wraps his arms around him a little more tightly. “Don’t apologize. I don’t mind. And I think it’s good that we can speak about this. I’ve been feeling the same way; it’s nice to know that I’m not alone. Besides… This, right now? This kind of feels like one of those quiet moments.”

Paul looks at his face and smiles faintly. “It does.” Then he turns his head again, up towards the ceiling. His gaze drifts off into the distance. “I hate long-distance relationships. Really fucking hate them. I was in one once and it lasted all of about three months before we broke it off. Well — _I_ broke it off. Because I couldn’t do it. And that wasn’t even off-planet.” He turns back to Hugh, and the smile returns. “But now? Now we’ve been doing this for so long and while I still hate it, I couldn’t possibly see myself giving it up. Giving _you_ up. Because you? You’re worth all of this and more.”

Those words tug Hugh’s heart open in the most tender and beautiful way, causing the brightest smile to spread on his face. “God, I love you.” He kisses Paul again. “It makes me so happy to hear you say that. And I agree. I wish…” He hesitates, unsure if what he’s about to say is going a step too far or too fast for Paul. But Paul was honest with him, so Hugh feels that he owes him the same honesty in return. And maybe they even are on the same page about this too?

Paul’s smile is curious and open. “Yes?” he asks gently when Hugh doesn’t continue.

Hugh smiles again. “I wish we could live together. I mean, not that I wouldn’t already be unspeakably happy to be living on the same planet as you, so that meeting up is just a little transporter trip away. But even though we spend so much time talking now, you know, in video calls and text messages throughout the day, and when we meet like now we share a hotel room for a few days… That’s not enough for me. I want more. I want all of you, all of _us_. A-and I’m afraid in saying it out loud that this might be too much for you, but if you don’t want this then it’s perfectly okay.”

Paul stares at him, fully focused. He seems to be thinking, processing. A small part of Hugh regrets his words already, but at least it doesn’t look like he’s scared Paul off yet. “Yes,” he finally says, and Hugh suddenly realizes that he’s exhaling in relief the breath that he’s been holding. “Yes, I want that too.” A pause, before he continues. “Though I admit that I’m a little scared.”

“Scared?”

“That it won’t be as perfect as I’m imagining it. That for some reason we won’t be compatible spending so much time each day together. That you might get tired of having me around all the time.” His voice has gradually gotten quieter as he spoke and dropped almost to a whisper by the time he finishes.

Hugh considers his words. At least he’s extremely relieved that Paul is open to the possibility as well — eager even, in fact. But he also understands his concerns. His heart breaks a little every time Paul insinuates that anyone would get sick of his company after a short time. Even if that might be the case for some or even most people, Hugh knows that he is definitely not “most people” in this regard. But how can he reassure Paul of this?

“Okay. I get what you’re saying.” He squeezes Paul’s hand a little tighter. “To be perfectly honest, I highly doubt that I’ll get tired of spending time with you. And I do hope the same is true vice versa.” He raises an eyebrow and Paul huffs a little laugh, the brows he’d drawn together relax. “But even so, I’m sure it’s something we can figure out together and adjust so that it works for us. We can still find ways to make space for ourselves and find the right balance for how not to get sick of each other. Right?”

“You’re so smart with stuff like this,” Paul responds with a smile. “Guess I still have a lot to learn from you.”

This makes Hugh laugh fondly, and he leans in to kiss him again. “So is that a ‘yes’?”

“Yes, Hugh Culber, given the opportunity I would move in with you in a heartbeat. As long as I don’t have to join Starfleet to do it.”

They both share a laugh, and then Paul snuggles deeper into his arms again.

“I wish this wasn’t all hypothetical talk though,” he says, and with a yawn adds, “We’ve still only got this one week right now.”

“I know.” Hugh wraps his arms around him a little tighter. “How about this? We take the rest of today off, just a quiet, slow evening, snuggled up together in here and doing whatever we feel like, nothing more. If we get hungry later we can order room service for dinner, or stretch our legs a bit and pick something up from the replicators. Just relax and get some sleep.”

“Sounds good.”

“And then tomorrow we’ll see about how we wanna spend the day. You said you wanted to check out the market in town?”

“Breakfast downstairs at the hotel restaurant, they’ve got a few tables in the sunroom that look out onto the garden,” Paul mumbles, sounding a little sleepy now. “Then we take a stroll over the market. The day after that is the town festival, we could get started with that in the late afternoon and stay for the fireworks after dark. I wouldn’t mind spending the morning and noon of that day in bed with you.”

Hugh smiles into his pale hair, knowing that Paul can probably feel it even if he doesn’t see it. “Sounds like a great plan. Any ideas for the rest of the week yet?”

“Not really. We can think about that later. See how the first few days go…” His voice slurs slightly and trails off.

Hugh sighs blissfully. “Sounds good, darling… Sleep well.”

“You too… love you.”

“I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Less than 2 months until Disco comes back, aaaaa!!


End file.
